The new MEG 7.6 software has been released! This is the first in our MEG Controlled Release series releases. THe MEG 7.6 software is every bit as good as the mainline release versions are. The thing is, rather than trying to shoehorn new features into our patch releases, our development team has instead decided to put out interim releases which contain new features, and patches which don't.

We have added a number of new features to the MEG 7.6 software. Many of these features will be new to our Legacy EWS customers, but our legacy IronMail customers should recognize several of them.

First, we are adding the ability to define custom notification messages. This enables admins to define multiple templates for email notifications, and then decide which notification(s) should be sent to which user(s) for that rule. Additionally, not all users need receive the same notification text. This will make notifications for email messages blocked much easier for all involved.

Second, we have added the ability to define a policy-based action. That is, if this policy applies, take this action regardless of any other (lower-priority) actions which may be assigned. This means that an admin could decide that all mail from this particular user should have an audit copy sent to this particular email address, or any mail going to that domain must be rerouted to go though this special network link. It is also possible to assert that all mail hitting a given policy should not be scanned by any of the tools prior to sending it on to its destination. Note that this last option is very powerful and due care should be exercised in its implementation so as to not result in messages getting through which should not. See KB79019 for additional details.

Third, we have added the capability to define individual exceptions to policy rules. Previously, if an exception to a policy needed to be made, but only for a particular user for a particular part of the policy, a whole new policy would have to be made and applied to that particular user. Now it is possible to define exceptions to individual policy items inline.

Fourth, we have changed the behavior of the appliance when encountering unscannable content. Previously, when encountering content which the appliance was unable to scan with the content scanning engine, the mail services would crash and generate a segmentation fault. That fault could then be sent to support for investigation by our development team. Now, we have changed the appliance so that the appliance may identify such messages and apply a particular action to them, with that action being administratively defined. For more about this feature, see KB79035.

Finally, we have added the ability to reset the GUI access controls from the command line. Customers periodically make special configurations of the appliance to help improve the security of the system by restricting GUI access to particular network paths, particular source IPs, or through the enablement of x509 certificate authentication. Unfortunately, should an error be made during configuration of these settings, it was previously impossible to fix without either reimaging and rebuilding the configuration or contacting technical support for a remote session with a tech who has root access. Now, we make this possible for an admin who has the admin username/password and access to a keyboard and monitor attached to the appliance. See KB79044 for additional details.